Using Baby Food in your Adult Food
Organic Baby Food Makes Great Sauces
I have always liked baby food. My sister was born when I was 8 and, 6 years later, when I was 14, my brother was born. So I was old enough to feed two of my younger siblings. I used to finish off their baby food when I fed them.
Now I'm an adult and I didn't get the opportunity to feed my nieces and nephews as much. But I've been buying organic baby food for off and on for many years. I have found that organic vegan baby food is good for thickening soups, making sauces and making fat free (or low fat) baked goods.
Many years ago, I tried a low fat (under 15% of my calories from fat) diet. At that time, I began to use pureed pumpkin instead of shortening. The only issue with this was that pumpkin puree was only available in the autumn. Right around this time, I was doing some regular shopping for a friend and she often asked me to buy organic baby food (usually carrots or sweet potato) and I asked her what she was using it for (her three children were all long past the baby food stage). She told me she used it in a recipe (for some vegetable kugel, I think).
So, when I ran out of pumpkin puree, I decided to try baby food. After all, what is baby food but pureed fruits and/or vegetables?
So What's New?
Organic Baby Food now comes in squeezable plastic/metal containers (see the Amazon module below). This makes it much easier to use. I'm wondering myself whether that was the intention with these new containers, that adults will use them for other recipes.
I have found that the interesting flavors of baby food (I've used blueberry/sweet potato several times) makes a great base for salad dressing. I like to make a big salad with lots of greens (a good dressing, with the baby food base, makes just about every green not only edible but tasty), some carrots (I usually cut my carrots into 1/2 moon or 1/4 moon slices), an avocado (diced -- the avocado adds a great flavor to the salad), a plum and/or peach (also diced) and any other veggie or fruit you like (I like to add currents and dried cranberries). Then I take the baby food, squeeze two packages (I like to mix flavors -- there are so many interesting flavors these days even for people like me who don't eat wheat and dairy) into a bowl, add some tahini or nut butter (1-3 teaspoons) and blend. Then add vinegar of your choice (I use a bit of ume plum vinegar, which if very high in sodium, since I need to add sodium to my food, and then mostly balsamic vinegar). Blend it well and put it on the salad and mix well to cover the veggies. I love it.
I also used a packet of baby food to make a sauce for some veggies. I took scallions and garlic, and a few different kinds of mushrooms and sauteed them up. I added the baby food with some turmeric, paprika, coriander (1 teaspoon of each), cumin, ginger and chili powder (1/2 teaspoon each). Then I added a squirt of spicy brown mustard. I added some frozen veggies to this mix -- some frozen kale and frozen okra. I also chopped up some baby spinach and threw it into the pan along with some 1/4 moon sliced carrots. Once it cooked together for some time and the flavors all melded together (and the veggies all cooked through) I tasted it and it was delicious.
So, I think the bottom line here is to find some veggies you like and a flavor of baby food that you like and some spices you like and put them together for a delicious supper or late lunch.
How Do YOU feel about Baby Food?
What are YOUR feelings about adults eating baby food? When you think about this, keep in mind that most people in the US and other western countries already eat baby calf food (aka milk and other dairy products).
Do you think about adults eating baby food?